WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an order aimed at shutting down the Department of Education, a decades-long goal on the US right that objects to federal involvement in school systems run by individual states.
“We’re gonna shut it down and shut it down as quickly as possible. It’s doing us no good. We want to return our students to the states,” he said at a signing ceremony at the White House, which was attended by Republican lawmakers and a group of schoolchildren.
Trump has cast the move as necessary to save money and improve educational standards in the United States, saying they are lagging behind those in Europe and China.
But education has been a battleground for decades in America’s culture wars, and Republicans have long wanted to remove control of it from the federal government.
“He is saving America’s children with this action,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News ahead of the signing at 4:00 pm (2000 GMT).
“The Department of Education has never educated a child. All it has ever done is stolen money from the taxpayers.” His order on Thursday directs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the States,” according to a draft obtained by AFP.
Trump promised on the campaign trail to get rid of the department and devolve its powers to US states, in much the same way that has happened with abortion rights.
Trump’s appointment of McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, to lead the department was widely seen as a sign that its days were numbered. Several Republican governors are expected to attend the signing ceremony.
By law, the Education Department—created in 1979 -- cannot be shuttered without the approval of Congress, and Republicans do not have the votes to push that through.
But Trump and his billionaire advisor Elon Musk have already dismantled several other agencies, effectively crippling them by slashing programs and employees.
Educators and Democrats have slammed the move. “Education is our country’s future. Mr President, we will see you in court,” Randi Weingarten, head of the American Federation of Teachers, said on X.
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US State Department did not immediately respond to request for comment
Memorandum was issued hours after Trump arrived at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf property for weekend
